PREPARED BY: RANDY JALA LUNGAY, RCRIM

CRIME
- conduct that is prohibited and has a specific
punishment (as incarceration or fine) prescribed by public
law.
- an act committed or omitted in violation of public law
forbidding or commanding it.
CAUSATION
- the act or agency which produces an effect.
- it is defined as the actus reus (an action) from which the specific
injury or other effect arose and is combined with mens rea (a state
of mind) to comprise the elements of guilt.
- refer to the relationship between a person‟s actions and the
result of those actions.
CRIME CAUSATION
- deals with different theories and principles that explains how
the internal and external faculties of person affects his actions.
- assume that a criminal‟s behavior is determined
biologically, sociologically, economically, etc.
THEORY
- GK: theoria which means contemplation or speculation
- set of statement that explains behavior, event, or phenomena.
- supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain
something, especially one based on general principles
independent of the thing to be explained.
- Scientifically accepted because of consistency of empirical
facts/relationships
Development of Theory
3 Stages of Theory Development
1. Speculative – Attempts to explain what is
happening
2. Descriptive – Gathers descriptive data t
describe what is really happening
3. Constructive – Revises old theories and
develops new ones based on continuing research
Types of Explanation to the Extent of Criminal Behavior
1. Single/Unitary Theory – Contends that crime is produced by
one factor. It may be biological, sociological, or psychological.
2. Eclectic Theory – That crime stemmed by one or more factors
while in other instances it is caused by another set of factors.
3. Multiple Factor Theory – Views that crime is not a product of a
single cause or factor or combination of several factors.
4. Integrated Theory – A theory that combines two or more
theories to generate a single model or framework.
APPROACHES AND THEORIES OF CRIME
Subjective Approaches
Deals mainly on the on the biological of crimes, focused on the forms
of abnormalities that exist in the individual criminal before, during and after
the commission of the crime. (Tradio, 1999)

Objective Approaches
Deals on the study of groups, social processes and institutions as
influences to behavior. They are primarily derived from social sciences.
SUBJECTIVE APPROACHES
1. Anthropological Approach – the study on the physical
characteristics of an individual offender with non-offenders in the
attempt to discover differences covering criminal behavior.
2. Medical Approach – the application of medical examinations on
the individual criminal. It explain the mental and physical condition
of the individual prior and after the commission of the crime.
3. Biological Approach – the evaluation of genetic influences to
criminal behavior. It is noted that heredity is one force pushing the
criminal to crime.
4. Physiological Approach – the study on the nature of
human being concerning his physical needs in order to
satisfy his wants. It explains that the deprivation of the
physical body on the basic needs is an important
determiner of the commission of crime.
5. Psychological Approach – it is concerned about the
deprivation of the psychological needs of man, which
constitute the development of deviations of normal
behavior resulting to unpleasant emotions.
6. Psychiatric Approach – the explanation of crime
through diagnosis of mental diseases as a cause of the
criminal behavior.
7. Psychoanalytical Approach – the explanation of
crimes based on the Freudan Theory, which traces
behavior as the deviation of the repression of the basic
drives.
OBJECTIVE APPROACHES
1. Geographic Approach – this approach considers
topography, natural resources geographical, location and
climate that lead an individual to commit crime.
2. Ecological Approach – it is concerned with the biotic
grouping of men resulting to migration, competition,
social discrimination, division of labor and social conflict as
factors of crime.
3. Economic Approach – it deals with the explanation
of crime concerning financial security of inadequacy
and other necessities to support life as factors to
criminality.
4. Socio-Cultural Approach – those that focused on
institutions, economic, financial, education, political,
and religious influences to crime.
THEORIES OF CRIMES AND PIONEERS

PRE-CLASSICAL ERA / DEMONOLOGICAL THEORY

- According to this explanation individuals were thought to
be possessed by good or evil spirits, which caused good or evil
behavior. The theory maintains that criminal behavior was
believed to be the result of evil spirits and demons something of
natural force that controls his/her behavior.
PRE-TWENTIETH CENTURY THEORIES
CLASSICAL
The theory maintains that man is essentially a moral creature with
absolute free will to choose between good and evil therefore every man
is responsible for his act.
Freewill (Beccaria) – a philosophy advocating punishment severe
enough for people to choose, to avoid criminal acts. It includes the
belief that a certain criminal warrants a certain punishment without any
variation.
Hedonism (Bentham) – the belief that people choose pleasure and
avoid pain.
CESARE BECCARIA
Book: On Crimes and Punishment
- Right and just punishment
- Reformed the punishment system
- Prevention of commission of crime
- Modern penal forms
JEREMY BENTHAM

UTILITARIANISM is a philosophy which argues that what is right is the one

that would cause the greatest good for greatest number of people.

FELICIFIC CALCULUS - theory that proposes that individuals calculate the

consequences of his actions by weighing the pleasure (gain) and the pain
(suffering) they would derive from doing the action.

PANOPTICAN PRISON - “to allow the observer to observe”

THEORIES IN CLASSICAL THEORY
1. Rational Choice Theory
2. Deterrence Theory
3. Routine Activity Theory
4. Life style Theory
5. Incapacitation Theory
RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
 People make the decision that maximizes reward while
minimizing cost.
 States that when determining our economic and social
behavior we undergo a cost-benefit analysis to arrive at
the action that will bring about our greatest personal
benefit, which often benefits society as a whole.
 The view that crime is a purpose of decision making
process in which the potential cost and benefits of an
illegal act.
DETERRENCE THEORY
- prevention of crime through fear of punishment
- persons are affected by both the costs and
rewards that are consequent to their behavior.
a. General Deterrence
- a crime control policy that hinges on the fear of
criminal penalties. General deterrence measures, such as
long prison sentences for violent crimes, are aimed at
convincing the potential law violator that the pains
associated with crime outweigh its benefits.
b. Specific Deterrence
- A crime control policy proposing that punishment be
severe enough to convince convicted offenders never to repeat
their criminal activity.

EFFECTIVE DETERRENCE:
• CELERITY / SWIFT – rapidly punish after commission of
crime.
• SEVERITY – complex / unpleasant sanction
• CERTAINTY – likelihood of the crime to be discovered /
detected and punished.
ROUTINE ACTIVITY THEORY
- Offenders make choices about whether or not to
commit a crime based on their access to their potential
victim / situation.
- Crime is a normal function of the routine activities
of modern living; offenses can be expected if there is a
motivated offender and a suitable target that is not
protected by a capable guardians.
LIFE STYLE THEORY
- The lifestyle theory maintains that criminals target
individuals due to their lifestyle choices.
- Many victim’s options expose them to criminal
offenders and situations where crime is likely to occur.
- People may become crime victims because their
lifestyle increases their exposure to criminal offenders
INCAPACITATION THEORY
- Reductions in crime rates are achieved through higher
imprisonment rates since the offender cannot commit new crimes
while incarcerated.

- If more criminals are sent to prison the crime, the crime rate
should go down; keeping known criminals out of circulation. This
theory supported on the idea of imprisonment of criminals.
Neo-Classical
- Argued that situations or circumstances that made it
impossible to exercise freewill are reasons to exempt the accused
from conviction.
- This school of thought maintains that while the classical
doctrine is correct in general, it should be modified in certain
details, that children and lunatics should not be regarded as
criminals and free from punishment, it must take into account
certain mitigating circumstances.
POSITIVIST
- It maintained that crime as any other act is a natural
phenomenon and is comparable to disaster or calamity. That
crime as a social and moral phenomenon which cannot be
treated and checked by the imposition of punishment but
rather rehabilitation or the enforcement of individual
measures.
- Criminals are like sick people who requires rehabilitation
rather than the imposition of punishment.
ITALIAN / POSITIVIST THEORY
- Analysis based on observable scientific facts
- Causes of behavior can be measured and observed
- Behaviors are imposed by biological and psychological
factors.
- human behavior is pre-disposed and fully determined by
individual differences and biological traits meaning it is not
freewill that drives people to commit crimes
CESARE LOMBROSO
The Italian leader of the positivist school of criminology, was criticized
for his methodology and his attention to the biological characteristics of
offenders, but is emphasis on he need to study offenders scientifically earned
him the “Father of Modern Criminology”.

Classification of Criminals by Lombroso

1. Born Criminals – the belief that being criminal is inherited.
- Those possess by atavistic characteristics.
2. Insane Criminals – those who commit crime due to abnormalities or
psychological disorders.
3. Criminaloids – a person who commits crime due to less
physical stamina or self control.
- Criminal by Passion – individuals who are easily by great
emotions like fit of anger.
- Habitual Criminal
- Juridical Criminals – violates the law by accident
4. Occasional Criminal – are those who commits crime due to
insignificant reasons that pushed them to do at a given occasion.
5. Pseudo-criminals – are those who kill in self-defense.
BIOLOGICAL THEORIES
- These refers to the set of theories that point to
physical, physiological and other natural factors as the
causes for the commission of crimes of certain
individuals.
- These explain the existence of criminal traits
associates individual’s evil disposition to physical
disfigurement or impairment.
ATAVISTIC THEORY OF CRIME
- Distinct biological class of people that were prone to
criminality.
- These people exhibited „atavistic‟ (i.e. primitive)
features.
- Who had biological characteristics from an earlier stage
of human development that manifested as a tendency to
commit crimes.
Biosocial Theory
- This theory viewed that both thought and behavior are
biological and social bases.
- Biosocial theorist believed that it is the interaction
between predisposition and environment that produces
criminality. Children born into disadvantage often do not
have the social and familial support they need to overcome
their handicaps. Lack of family support can have long term
physical consequences.
- It seeks to explain the onset of antisocial behavior
such as aggression and violence by focusing on the
physical qualities of the offenders. It concentrated mainly on
the three areas of focus;
BIO – CHEMICAL
- chemical composition of living matter
- Crime, especially violent is a function of diet,
vitamin intake, hormonal imbalance, or food
allergies, hormones, and environmental
contaminants.
Neurological – Brain Damage
Genetic - Inheritance
1. BIOCHEMICAL FACTOR
Relationship between antisocial behavior and biochemical
makeup/body chemistry can govern behavior and personality.
a. KATHRINA DALTON – MENSTRUATION AND CRIME
(PRE-MENSTRUAL SYNDROME)
-PREMENSTRUAL DYSPHORIC DISORDER – severe
form of PMS
b. ALEXANDER SCHAUSS – NUTRITIONAL DIFFERENCES
c. HYPOGLYCEMIA – condition when blood sugar falls below
acceptable range.
d. Hormonal Levels – Antisocial behavior allegedly peaks in
the teenage years because hormonal activity is as its
highest level during this period.
- Research also suggest that increased levels of the
male androgen testosterone are responsible for excessive
levels of violence among teenage boys.
Androgens – Hormones associated with masculine traits
Estrogens – associated with feminine traits
2. NEUROLOGICAL DYSFUNCTION
Focus on the neurological, or brain and nervous
system, structure of offenders.
Imbalance in the nervous system’s chemical and
hormonal activity has been linked to anti-social behavior
and drug abuse.
a. Minimal Brain Dysfunction
- Damage to the brain itself that causes the anti-social
behavior injurious to the individuals lifestyle and social
adjustment.
3. Genetic Influences
Individuals who share genes are alike in personality regardless of
how they are reared, whereas rearing environment induces little or no
personality resemblance.
a. Parents-Child Similarities
- Criminal fathers produce delinquents sons who grew up to have
delinquent children themselves.
b. Siblings and Twin Similarities
- The behavior of twins and non-twin siblings found out that the
twins who share more genetic material are also more similar in their
behavior.
c. Adoption Studies
- Adoptees share many of the behavioral and intellectual
characteristic of their biological parents despite the social and
environmental conditions found in their adoptive homes.
Evolutionary Theory
- rooted in Darwin’s Theory of natural selection, which explains the
existence of aggression and violent behavior as a positive adaptive
behaviors in human evolution; these traits allowed their bearers to
reproduce disproportionately, which had an effect on the human gene
pool.
SUB-THEORIES;
A. Cheater Theory
- Suggest that a sub-population o men has evolved with genes that
incline them toward extremely low parental involvement and that men are
sexually aggressive who use their cunning to gain sexual conquests with
as many females as possible. Because females would not choose them
as mates, they use stealth to gain sexual access “cheating” including
such tactics as mimicking the behavior of more stable males.
- Psychologist Byron Roth notes that these cheater-type males
maybe especially attractive to younger, less intelligent women who begin
having children at very early age. It explains male aggressiveness.
B. R/K Selection Theory
- Holds that all organisms can be located along a
continuum based upon their reproductive drives.
- Those along the ‘R’ end reproduce rapidly whenever
they can and invest little in their offspring;
- Those along “K” end reproduce slowly and
cautiously and take care in the raising their offspring.
- K-oriented people are more cooperative and
sensitive to others, R-oriented people are more cunning
and deceptive.
 R/K Theory is believed to be the underlying theory on the
cases of rape, women brutality, and domestic abuse.
It explains the male’s need for dominance and the drive
behind sexual related crimes, this explains why rape is mainly a
male crime with few female convicts as they do not fit the R
category.
Females tend to be more nurturing toward their offspring
and carry a specific trait that prevents them from reproducing
as fast as males, hence sexually oriented crimes are by far
committed by males.
Arousal Theory
- Environmental factors influence the brain’s level of individual’s arousal.
- It explains that aggression is a function of the level of individual’s needs
for stimulation or arousal from the environment.
- Those who require more stimulation may act in aggressive manner to
meet their needs.
- Thrill is a motivator of crime.
- At the center of this theory lies the fact that sensations seekers are more
biologically and environmentally prone to engage in deviant activities and to
take illicit drugs.
- For example, a person who is taking drugs might initially participate for
the thrill and excitement of the behavior, but they will continue the behavior
because of the instant pleasure that they receive due to the pharmacological
effects of the drug they are taking.
PHYSIOGNOMY
- the study of facial features and their relation to
human behavior; the study of judging a person’s character
from facial features to determine weather the shape of the
ears, nose and eyes and the distances between them were
associated with anti-social behavior.
CRANIOSCOPY
- A method to study the personality and
development of mental and moral faculties
based on the external shape of the skull.
- It was later renamed as Phrenology, the
study that deals with the relationship between
the skull and the human behavior.
Somatotyping Theory

Refers to the study of the body build of a person in

relation to his temperament and personality and the type
of offense he is most prone to commit.
Maintains the belief of inheritance as the primary
determinants of behavior and the body physique is a
reliable indicator of personality.
SOMATOTYPE/PHYSIOLOGY
Types of physique by Ernst Kretschmer
a. Asthenic – lean, slightly built, narrow shoulders.
b. Athletic – medium to tall, strong, muscular, course
bones
c. Pyknic – medium height, rounded figure, massive neck,
broad face
d. Dysplastic – combination of two body types
Kretschmer related this body physique to various psychotic
behavioral patterns: Pyknic to manic depression, asthenics and
athletics to schizophrenia.
Classification of Body Physique by Sheldon
a. Endomorphic – a type with relatively
predominance of soft, roundness through out the regions
of the body. They have low specific gravity. Persons with
typically relaxed and comfortable disposition.
b. Mesomorphic – athletic type, predominance of
muscle, bone and connective tissue, normally heavy, hard
and firm, sting and tough. They are the people who are
routinely active and aggressive, and they are the most
likely to commit crimes.
c. Ectomorphic – thin physique, flat chest, delicacy
through the body, slender, poorly muscled.
HEREDITY STUDIES

Heredity – The transmission of genes from parents to offspring.

Hereditary – Quality of a trait that can be passed down.

KARYOTYPE STUDIES
- comparison and examination of chromosomes

KARYOTYPE
- the general appearance of the complete set of chromosomes
in the cells of a species or in an individual organism.
NATURE THEORY
- Intelligence is determined genetically and/or by
ancestors; and that low intelligence as demonstrated by
low IQ is linked to criminal behavior.

NURTURE THEORY
- It refers to all environmental variables that impact
who we are is determine with how we are raised, social
relationships, culture, and childhood experiences.
Family Studies
RICHARD LOUIS DUGDALE - studied Juke’s
HENRY GODDARD - coined the term MORON
- traced Martin Kallikak descendants
- Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of
Feeblemindedness.
CHARLES GORING - criminal traits can be passed.
FRANCIS GALTON - developed EUGENICS – science of improving
human population by controlled breeding.
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
Fact-based ideas that describe a phenomenon of
human behavior and theories that attributes criminal
behavior to psychological factors, such as emotion and
mental problems. Sometimes called as psychogenic
approaches.
Psychodynamic Theory
- The Tripartite Personality – ID, EGO, SUPEREGO
Psychoanalytical Theory
Freud attributed delinquent and criminal behavior to a conscience
that is overbearing which arouses feelings of guilt or a conscience that is
so weak that it cannot control the individual’s impulses and the need for
immediate gratification his theory.
Crime is a symbolic expression of one’s inner tension which a
person but fails to control.
This theory suggests that human behavior is influenced by
unconscious memories, thoughts and urges.
It concentrates on awareness level combined with our experiences
in early childhood that together can form the basis of certain mental
disorders.
PERSONALITY IS COMPRISED OF THREE COMPONENTS:
A. ID – This stands for instinctual drives; it is governed by the “pleasure
principle”; the id impulses are not social and must be repressed or adapted so
that they may become socially acceptable.
B. EGO – This is considered to be the sensible and responsible part of an
individual’s personality and is governed by the “reality principle”; it is
developed early in life and compensates for the demand of the id by helping
the individual guide his actions to remain within the boundaries of accepted
social behavior; it is the objective, rational part of personality.
C. SUPEREGO – Serves as the “moral conscience” of an individual; it is
structured by what values were taught by the parents, the school and the
community, as well believed in God; it is largely responsible for making a
person follow the moral codes of society.
Human Mind has Three Levels of Awareness. These are the
Conscious (10%), Subconscious (50-60%), and Unconscious
(30-40%)
1. Conscious – Serves us the scanner for us causing to
perceive an event, trigger a need to react, and then depending
on the importance of the event, store it either in the unconscious
or the subconscious area of the human mind.
2. Subconscious – It is the storage point for any recent
memories needed for quick recall.
3. Unconscious – It is where all our memories and past
experiences reside.
Classes of Mental Deficiency
a. Idiot – person whose case there exist mental
defectiveness of such a degree that they are unable
to guard themselves against common physical
dangers. Their mentality is compared to a two years
person.
b. Imbeciles – persons in whose case there exist
mental defectiveness which thought not amounting
to idiocy, is yet so pronounced that they are
incapable of managing themselves or their affairs.
Their mentality is like a child of 2 to 7 years old.
c. Feebleminded Persons – those mental defectiveness
which thought not amounting to imbecility, is yet to
pronounced that they require care, supervision and
control for their own or for the protection of others, or in
the case of children, they appear to be permanently
incapable by reason of such defectiveness or receiving
proper benefit from the intrusion in ordinary schools.
d. Moral Defectiveness – person wherein defects
couples with strong vicious or criminal propensities, and
who require care and supervision, and control for their
own or for the protection of others.
PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY

It is the central element of the psychoanalytic sexual

drive theory. Freud believed that personality developed
through a series of childhood stages in which pleasure
seeking energies from the child. psychosexual energy, or
libido, was described as the driving force behind behavior.
PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

1. ORAL STAGE
- infant's primary source of interaction occurs
through the mouth.
- infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation
through gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking.
2. Anal Stage
- the primary focus of the libido was on controlling
bladder and bowel movements.
toilet training — the child has to learn to control their bodily
needs. Developing this control leads to a sense of
accomplishment and independence.
3. PHALLIC STAGE
- the primary focus of the libido is on the genitals.
- OEDIPUS COMPLEX
- ELECTRA COMPLEX
4. LATENCY STAGE
- begins around the time that children enter into
school and become more concerned with peer
relationships, hobbies, and other interests.
5. GENITAL STAGE
- develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite
sex.
- interest in the welfare of others grows during this
stage
IF PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES AREN’T GRATIFIED?

FIXATED PERSON
- exhibits behavior, traits, characteristics of those
encounter during the stages.
- arrested in development or adjustment
- fastened or held in one place
BEHAVIORAL THEORY
Human behavior is developed through gaining and
learning experiences while growing up.
The children learn violence from others, it is seen that the
children learn most of the acts from movies and try to apply
them in real world.
Three types of behavioral learning
1. Classical Conditioning
2. Operant Conditioning
3. Observational Learning
COGNITIVE THEORY
- focuses on how people perceive the world and how
this perception governs their actions, thoughts and
emotions.
- break down the process into three levels of what is
called “moral development.”
Moral Development Theory
– It suggested that people travel through stages of
moral development and that it is possible that serious
offenders have a moral orientation that differs from those
law abiding citizen.
PRE-CONVENTIONAL LEVEL
- how they learn the external consequences of their
actions.
CONVENTIONAL LEVEL
- begin to base behavior on society’s views and
expectations.
POST-CONVENTIONAL LEVEL
- judging the moral worth of societal values and rules and
how they relate to values of liberty, human welfare and human
rights (law).
Intergenerational Theory
- Intergenerational transmission refers to the
socialization and social learning that helps to explain the
ways in which children growing up in a violent family learn
roles and subsequently, may play out the roles of victim or
victimizer in their own adult families.
- It stated that criminal and antisocial parents tend to
have delinquent and antisocial children. The concept of
intergenerational transmission is also used by social
scientists who conduct research on family violence.
Alternative Theory
It beats the famous saying, “OPPOSITE CHARGES
ATTRACTS”. It focuses on assertive meeting;
Female offender tend to cohabit with or get married to
male offenders.
In a study in New Zealand, Robert F. Krueger and his
colleagues found that several partners tended to be similar
in their self-reported anti-social behavior. Children with two
criminal parents are likely to be disproportionally antisocial.
There are two main classes of explanations concerning
similar people tend to get married , cohabit, or become
sexual partners.
1. Social Homogamy – convicted people tend to
choose each other as mates because of physical and
social proximity; they meet each other in the same schools,
neighborhood, clubs, pubs, and so on.
2. Phenotypic Assortment – people examines each
other’s personality and behavior and choose partners who
are similar to themselves.
Eysenck’s Conditioning Theory
– claims that all human personality may be seen
three dimensions such as;
a. Psychoticism – aggressive, egocentric and
impulsive.
b. Extroversion – sensation-seeking, dominant and
assertive.
c. Neuroticism – having low self-esteem, excessive
anxiety and wide mood swings.
Integrated Theory
This theory was proposed by James Q. Wilson and
Richard Julius Herrnstein which explain predatory street
crime by showing how human nature develops from the
interplay of psychological, biological and social factors. Its
main concept is that the interaction of genes with
environment that some individuals form the kind of
personality to commit crimes.
They stated that the factors that pushed the individuals
to commit crimes are intelligent quotient, body build, genetic
make up, impulsiveness, and even those mothers who drink
who drink and smoke while pregnant.
Maternal Deprivation and Attachment Theory
– it explains that child needs warmth and affection
from his/her mother or mother substitute.
- Edward John M. Bowlby devised this theory who
expressed the notion that child needs warmth and
affection from his/her mother or mothers substitute.
Bowlby emphasized that the most important
phenomenon to social development takes place after the
birth of any mammal and that is the construction of an
emotional bond between the infant and his attachment
affects the capacity to be affectionate and to develop
intimate relationships with others.
 SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
These theories explain how a certain individual
acquires criminal behavior; describes how the
agents of socialization such as family, environment,
schools, mass media, and peer groups contribute to
the behavior of a specific individual; and would
manifest as to how a person responded or reacted
to the conduct displayed by other persons whom
they socialized with.
Anomie Theory
It focused on the sociological point of the positivist school,
which explains that the absence of norms in a society provides
a setting conductive to crimes other anti-social acts. According
to him, the explanation of human conduct lies not in the
individual but in the group and the social organization.
Anomie arises more generally from a mismatch between
personal or group standards and wider social standards, or from
the lack of social ethic, which produces moral deregulation and
an absence of legitimate aspirations.
Theory of Imitation
According to this theory, individuals imitate the
behavior of other individuals based on the degree of their
association with other individuals and it is inferior or weak
who tend to imitate he superior and strong.
It is explained by the following patterns:
a. Pattern 1 : individuals imitate others in proportions to the
intensity and frequency of their contact.
b. Pattern 2: inferiors imitate superiors
c. Pattern 3: when two behavior patterns clash, one may take
the place of the other.
Cartographic and Geographical school of Thought
The phenomenon of crime is closely related with the
geography, climate and altitude of place where crime takes
place.

Thermic Law
Which is certain types of crimes are so linked with
geographical conditions that these occur in a particular climate
at a particular area not in others.
Equatorial Law
The rate of crime is very high in areas on or
near the equator. The climate on equator is
intensely hot and humid and this renders
people irritable and tempers are frayed.
Concentric Zone Theory
The theory is comprising a series of 5 concentric
circles or zones, and that there were stable and significant
differences in interzone crime rates. The areas of heaviest
concentration of crime appeared to be the transitional
inner-city zones, where large numbers of foreign-born
citizens had settled. The zones farthest from the city’s
center had lower crime rates.
Human Ecology Theory
The study of the interrelationship of people
and their environment. This theory maintains that
crime is a function of social change that occurs along
the environmental change. It also maintains that the
isolation, segregation, competition, conflict, social
contract, interaction and social hierarchy of people
are the major influences of criminal behavior and
crimes.
MODERN SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES

•SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES

• SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORIES
• SOCIAL REACTION THEORY
• SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY
SOCIAL LEARNING/PROCESS THEORY/SOCIAL
COGNITIVE THEORY
Suggests that social behavior is learned by observing and imitating
the behavior of others.
Five stages of social learning theory
1. Observation
2. Attention
3. Retention
4. Reproduction
5. Motivation
Differential Association Theory

This theory maintains that the society is composed

of different group organization, the societies consist of a
group of people having criminalistic tradition and anti-
criminalistic behavior. And that criminal behavior is
learned and not inherited. It is learned through the
processes of communication, and learning process
includes technique of committing the crime, motive and
attitude.
Differential Reinforcement Theory
- it suggests that the presence of criminal
behavior depends on whether or not it is
rewarded or punished and the most meaningful
rewards and punishment are those given by
groups that are important in an individuals life.
NEUTRALIZATION THEORY

It maintains that an individual will obey or

disobey societal rules depending upon his or her
ability to rationalize whether he is protected from
hurt or destruction. People become law abiding if
they feel they are benefited by it and they violate it
if these laws are not favorable to them.
5 ways of neutralization:
DENIAL OF - shifts blame of the act away from the actor.
RESPONSIBILITY
DENIAL OF INJURY - offender claims that no real offense occurred as
no one is harmed.
DENIAL OF VICTIM - implies victim deserves the result of the act of
the offender.
CONDEMNATION OF - offenders shares the guilt to the condemners
CONDEMNERS asserting that his behavior is just same as other.

APPEAL TO HIGHER - elevates moral integrity by claiming altruistic

LOYALTIES motive.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORIES
Social Disorganization Theory
Suggests that the person’s residential location
is more significant than the person’s characteristics
when predicting criminal activity and the juveniles
living in this areas acquire criminality by the cultures
approval within the disadvantaged urban
neighborhoods.
Strain Theory
This theory maintains that the failure of man to
achieve a higher status of life caused them to commit
crimes on order for that status/goal to be attained. Merton
argued that crimes is means to achieve goals and the
social structure is the root of the crime problem. Merton’s
explanation to criminal behavior assumes that people are
law abiding but when under great pressure will result to
crime.
Structural: this refers to the processes at the societal level which
filter down and affect how the individual perceives his or her needs,
i.e. if particular social structures are inherently inadequate or there
is inadequate regulation, this may change the individual’s
perceptions as to means and opportunities;

Individual: this refers to the frictions and pains experienced by an

individual as he or she looks for ways to satisfy his or her needs. i.e.
if the goals of a society become significant to an individual, actually
achieving them may become more important than the means
adopted.
MERTON’S ADAPTATION TO STRAIN

Conformity – those who conforms to the system’s

means and goals.

Innovation – individuals who accept socially

approved goals, but not necessarily the socially
approved means.
Ritualism – those who buy into a system of socially
approved means, but lose sight of the goals.
Retreatism – those who reject socially approved
goals and means for acquiring them.
Rebellion – people who negate socially approved
goals and means by creating a new system of
acceptable goals and means.
Culture Conflict Theory
A sociological perspective which suggests
that the root cause of criminality can be found in
a clash of values between variously socialized
groups over what is acceptable or proper
behavior.
SUB-CULTURE THEORY OF DELINQUENCY

Cohen claims that the lower class cannot socialize

effectively as the middle class in what is considered
appropriate middle class behavior. Thus, the lower class
gathered together to share their common problems,
forming a sub-culture that rejects middle class values. The
sub-culture called a gang and the kids are called
delinquents.
THREE TYPES OF GANGS:
1. CRIMINAL GANG - Exist in stable lower-class areas in which close
connections among adolescent, young adult, and adult offenders
create an environment for successful criminal enterprise such as
joining gang.
2. CONFLICT GANG - tough adolescents who fight with weapons to
win respect from rivals and engage in destructive assaults on people
and property. They are willing to fight to protect their own and their
gang’s integrity and honor.
3. RETREATIST GANG - double failures because they are unable to
gain success through legitimate means and unwilling to do so through
illegal ones. They have tried crime or violence but are either too weak
or scared
DIFFERENTIAL OPPORTUNITY THEORY

This theory explained that society leads the lower

class to want things and society does things to people. He
claimed that there is differential opportunity, or access,
to success goals by both legitimate and illegitimate
means depending on the specific location of the
individual with in the social structure. Thus, lower class
groups are provided with greater opportunity for the
acquisition of deviant acts.
LABELING THEORY/SOCIAL REACTION THEORY

The theory that explains about social

reaction to behavior. The theory explains
that the original cause of crime cannot be
known, no behavior is intrinsically criminal,
and behavior becomes criminal if it is
labeled as such.
Effects of Labelling
1. THE CREATION OF A STIGMA - People who
have been negatively labeled because of their
participation or alleged participation in deviant or
outlawed behaviors.
2. SELF-IMAGE / SELF-LABELLING.
Stigmatized offenders may begin to reevaluate
their own identities around the label.
3. SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY - Deviant
behavior patterns that are in response to an
earlier labeling experience, a person act out
these social roles even if they were falsely
bestowed.
4. DRAMATIZATION OF EVIL - Transforms
the offender‟s identity from a “doer of evil” to
“an evil person”
SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY
Social Control/Bond Theory
It attempts to explain ways to train people to engage in law
abiding behavior. It share a view that humans require nurturing in
order to develop attachments or bond to people and that
personal bonds are key in producing internal controls such as
shame.
4 major social bond:
1. Attachment
2. Commitment
3. Involvement
4. Belief
Containment Theory
The theory assumes that for every individual there exist
a containing external structure and a protective internal
structure, both of which provide defense, protection or
insulation against crime or delinquency. According to
Reckless, the outer structure of an individual are the external
pressures such as poverty, unemployment, and blocked
opportunities while the inner containment refers to the
person’s self control ensured by strong ego, good self image,
well developed conscience, high frustration tolerance and
high sense of responsibility.
ECONOMIC/CRITICAL THEORIES
SOCIAL CLASS AND CAPITALISM THEORY

Marx and Engel claim that the ruling class in a

capitalist society is responsible for the creation of criminal
law and their ideological basis in the interpretation and
enforcement of the laws. All are reflected in the ruling
class, thus crime and delinquency are reflected on the
demoralized surplus of population, which is made up of
the underprivileged usually the unemployed and
underemployed.
INSTRUMENTALIST THEORY

Quinney argued that the state exist as a

device for controlling the exploited class – the class
that labors for the benefit of the ruling class. He
claims that upper classes create laws that protect
their interest and at the same time the unwanted
behavior of all other members of society.
RELATIVE DEPRIVATION THEORY
- based on the concept that persons may feel
deprived of some desirable thing relative to their
own past, other persons or groups, or some other
social category.
DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY
Life-course Theory
- Otherwise known as Developmental Theory, suggest
that criminal behaviour is a dynamic process, influenced by
individual characteristics as well as social experiences, and
that the factors that cause anti-social behaviour’s change
dramatically over a person’s life span.
- As people travel through the life course, they are
constantly bombarded by changing perceptions and
experiences and as a result of which their behavior will
change directions, sometimes for the better and sometimes
for the worse.
Latent Trait Theory
- means that every individual has a set of inborn traits in them with
varying degrees.
- Latent trait theory is a complete opposite of life course theory.
This theory claims that people do not change, criminal opportunities
change; maturity brings fewer opportunities; early social control such as
proper parenting can reduce criminal propensity. It also holds that human
development is controlled by a “master trait-such as personality,
intelligence, and genetic make-up", present at birth. It is also believed
that this trait remains stable and unchanging throughout the person's
lifetime whereas others suggest that it can be altered, influenced, or
changed by subsequent experience.
AGE-GRADED AND AGING-OUT PROCESS THEORY
AGE-GRADED - the type of crime committed by a certain
individual is in consonance with his age governs or dictates the
type of crime to be committed by him.

AGING-OUT Process/phenomenon (desistance or remission)

- The process by which individuals reduce the frequency of
their offending behavior as they age.
Interactional Theory
- The onset can be traced to a deterioration of the social bond
during adolescence, marked by a weakened attachment to
parents, commitment to school, and belief in conventional values.
- The onset of criminal career is supported by residence in a
social setting in which deviant values and attitudes can be learned
from and reinforcement by delinquent peers. Weak bonds lead
kids to develop friendships with deviant peers and get involved in
delinquency. So, if we try to analyze interactional theory, it clearly
borrowed the principles of social bond theory by Travis Hirschi.
Integrated Theory
– the interaction of genes with the
environment that some individuals from
the kind of personality likely to commit
crimes.
Bio-social Theory
– This theory viewed that both thought and
behavior biological and social bases. Biosocial
Theories believe that it is the interaction between
predisposition and environment that produces
criminality.
BIO-PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORIES
- multidisciplinary perspective that attempts to
understand criminal behavior (and related outcomes, like
antisocial behavior and its consequences) by considering
the interactions between biological, psychological, and
sociological factors.
SOCIAL/POLITICAL THEORIES
CONFLICT THEORY
LEFT REALISM THEORY
IDENTITY FUSION
LIBERALISM
CONSERVATISM
RADICALISM
CONFLICT THEORY
Crime is the outcome of class struggle. The
classes that are struggling here are the upper,
middle and lower class.
LEFT REALISM
- street criminals prey on the poor, thus
making the poor doubly abused, first by
the capitalist system and then by the
members of their own class; relative
deprivation equals discontent; discontent
plus lack of political solution equals crime.
IDENTITY FUSION THEORY
- a visceral feeling of oneness with the
group that is associated with increased
permeability of the boundary between the
personal and social self.
- Fused persons view the group as “family”
and believe that family membership requires
sacrifice
LIBERALISM THEORY
Ideal society is one in which there
is equality of opportunity and a
general consensus to accept
differences in rewards as the
outcomes of fair competition.
CONSERVATISM THEORY
Conservative ideologies assume that the ideal
society is one in which authority is unquestioned society
is threatened by defective people-individuals and
population groups-who cannot or will not accept the
authority and direction of their superiors, and resort to
crime to profit from the labors of others.
FEMINIST CRIMINOLOGY
Made as a reaction to the general disregard and discrimination of
women in the traditional study of crime.
Attempts to explain the causes and outcomes of criminal behavior
from a particular perspective of women.
Focuses on women offenders, women victims, and women in the
criminal justice system in order to understand the causes, trends, and
results of female criminality. Key issues within the feminist school of
criminology include the role of sex and sexism in sentencing and
imprisonment, the role of victimization in women’s lives, and the increase
in the number of incarcerated women despite declining crime rates.
Theories on Women Offenders
Lombroso and Ferrero’s Atavistic Girl – The female just
like the atavistic nature of male criminals are also seen as
biologically inferior and distinct to non-criminal women.
Freud’s Inferior Girl – Sigmund saw female delinquency
arising primarily out of the anatomical inferiority of
women and their inability to deal adequately with Electra
complex.
Pollak’s Deceitful Girls – Otto Pollak argued that women are
actually as criminal as men but their criminality is hidden or
masked.

Marxist Feminist Theory – combine the notion of patriarchal

male dominance in the home and interpersonal relationships with
male control of the means of production.
- This theory holds that gender inequality stems from the
unequal power of men and women and the subsequent
exploitation of women by men.
MASCULINITY THEORY
Lombroso viewed female criminals as having an excess of male
characteristics. He argued that, biologically, criminal females more closely
resembled males (both criminal and normal) than females. Freud argued
that female crime results from a "masculinity complex," stemming from
penis envy.
MASCULINITIES - A trait shared by all men, but one that changes and
evolves depending upon the race, economic status, and sexual orientation
of any particular man. Crime may be viewed as an attempt to claim,
reclaim, or prove the very qualities that make one a man.
MASCULINITY THESIS - The view that as women become more equal in
society with men, their crime rates will increase.
OPPORTUNITY THEORY
Increasing opportunities for women reduced the
rates of violent female offending, but increased the
rates of property crimes.
When more women get access in the labor
market as skilled labor and possess highly
specialized positions in the job sector, they commit
more employment related property crime like men.
MARGINALIZATION THEORY
Marginality (low salary; inadequate job; lower
class position; family victimization) of a woman
penetrates criminality in contemporary societies.
Women are motivated to commit crime as a
rational response to poverty and economic
uncertainty that they perceive.
PATERNALISM - This view claims that men act in a manner
designed to keep women and girls in a subservient (less) position
in society. While women and girls may be treated less severely as
indicated under the chivalry hypothesis, they may also be treated
more harshly in an attempt to keep them from achieving equality
with men.

CHIVALRY HYPOTHESIS - The view that male police officers,

prosecutors, and judges tend to have traditional views of women
and girls. As a result, the officials are more lenient on the females
for committing criminal acts than on their male counterparts.
SELECTIVITY HYPOTHESIS - The belief that chivalry in the
criminal justice, ie lenient sentencing, is extended primarily to
white, middle class, privileged women.

TYPICALITY HYPOTHESIS - The belief that chivalry in the

criminal justice, ie lenient sentencing, is extended primarily to
women who commit crimes consistent with the stereotypical
view of women, and to women who can still be viewed as
“feminine”
ADLER'S THEORY OF MASCULINITY
Freda Adler, a prominent female criminologist on her book
entitled, “ Sister in Crime: The Rise of a New Female Criminal“ in 1975
has helped to develop the masculinity theory. She argued that,
women are involved in more crime due to the increasing
participation of women in social movements since the 1970's,which
changed role of female in family and the feelings of independence in
her work and thought. All these factors promote the
"masculinization process of women” role in society.
The main premise of this theory is that criminalities of women
are mainly dependent on the masculinity behavior of female. The
empowered women are involved in more serious violent crime than
non-empowered women due to the masculinity.
OTHER IMPORTANT THEORIES
PEACEMAKING CRIMINOLOGY
- a non-violent movement against oppression, social
injusticeand violence as found within criminology, criminal
justice and society in general. With its emphasis on inter-
personal, intra-personal and spiritual integration, it is well
connected to the emerging perspective of positive
criminology. Active strategy to limit war and violence.
Processes include mediation, arbitration, and adjudication.
Peacemaking may involve the process of seeking
resolution to a conflict while the conflict is ongoing.
BROKEN WINDOWS THEORY

- a criminological theory which states

that visible signs of crime, anti-social
behavior and civil disorder, create an urban
environment that encourages further crime
and disorder, including serious crimes.
CRIME PATTERN THEORY
Crime pattern theory = crime and place
Rational offenders will note places without guardians and
managers and where their handlers are unlikely to show up.
Pattern theory exposes the interactions with their physical and
social environments that influence offenders‟ choices of
targets.
Defensible Space Theory
The theory argues that an area is safer when
people feel a sense of ownership and responsibility
for that piece of a community. The idea is that crime
and delinquency can be controlled and mitigated
through environmental design.
END OF PRESENTATION!